This invention relates generally to a gutter apparatus for collecting rain at the edge of a roof and a leaf guard the covers the gutter apparatus to keep debris from collecting in the gutter.
Rain gutter assemblies are mounted beneath the lowest edge of a roof to collect rain water and melted snow draining by gravity off the surface of the roof. The rain gutter assembly protects the side of the building structure and objects below the edge of the roof from damage due to the water that would otherwise be falling off the lowest edge of the roof. Most rain gutters have an open top into which the draining water is collected into a trough-like structure and drained through a sloped bottom surface of the trough into a down spout for discharge away from the building. Some rain gutters are provided with a cover, commonly referred to as a leaf guard, which is removable from the top surface of the rain gutter to prevent leafs and other debris from falling into and collecting in the trough of the rain gutter and preventing effective drainage to the down spout.
Rain gutters can be constructed from extruded polyvinyl chloride or formed from galvanized steel, aluminum or copper. Typically, the rain gutters are fixed by fasteners to the vertical facing board of the roof structure forming the overall structure of the soffit so that the gutter is positioned immediately beneath the drip edge of the roof structure with the drip edge slightly overlapping the trough. The leaf guard has taken many different configurations, but is typically formed as a separate structure that is mounted in some manner to the upper portion of the rain gutter to cover the open trough.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,689, issued to Kenneth Bosler on Mar. 1, 1988, the rain gutter and leaf guard are formed as a unitary extruded structure that incorporates a mounting lip that detachably engages a clip affixed to the facing board of the roof structure to provide an easily detachable rain gutter structure. While the gutter and leaf guard are formed as a unitary structure, the leaf guard is not removable from the gutter trough to permit access to the trough for maintenance or service thereof. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,986, issued to Donald Way, et al on Jul. 3, 1990, the leaf guard structure is a separate formed member that mounts to the roof structure beneath the shingles and is supported on the outer edge of the gutter trough, forming an arched configuration over top of the open trough.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,852, issued to Peter Bemis, et al on Jun. 8, 1993, the gutter and leaf guard structure is formed from a single polyvinyl chloride (plastic) member with a pair of longitudinally-extending living hinges that permit the rain gutter to be assembled into a generally conventionally looking configuration with an integral trough and leaf guard that are connected by mating lips at the rear edge of the trough next to the roof structure. The Bemis gutter and leaf guard structure is formed from a one-piece plastic member, but does not provide an easily convenient removal of the leaf guard for access to the trough for maintenance and service thereof. Furthermore, the Bemis structure has no convenient mounting structure in that the gutter is mounted by fasteners inserted within the interior of the trough. Thus, the unfolded plastic member would have to be mounted to the facing board of the soffit or roof structure before being folded and assembled into the final trough-like configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,998, issued to Harry Hansen on Feb. 20, 1996, also reflects a one piece formed gutter and leaf guard apparatus. In the Hansen patent, the leaf guard is an impervious member that terminates in a rolled lip or edge adjacent the front edge of the gutter so that water will drain around the curved lip of the leaf guard while leafs and other debris will be carried off the leaf guard past the front edge of the gutter trough. The formed leaf guard structure in the Hansen patent is unitary and sufficiently rigid as to be self-supported in a cantilevered manner from the rearward edge of the trough. Thus, the Hansen patent also does not provide for a convenient access to the gutter trough for maintenance and service of the gutter structure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,825, issued to David Leroney, et al on Apr. 15, 1997, the leaf guard is formed as a separate perforated screen member that is mounted on the top of the formed gutter structure to be biased between the rear support of the gutter and the forward edge of the trough, which is formed with a rolled lip to mate with the leaf screen to provide a substantially contiguous surface to permit leaves and debris to be carried off the front edge of the gutter. The rain gutter and leaf guard are supported on longitudinally-spaced gutter supports that are affixed to the facing board by fasteners and project outwardly to engage the front edge of the gutter trough to provide support and rigidity to the gutter structure.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a one-piece gutter and leaf guard apparatus that is integrally formed for assembly and mounting on a soffit facing board beneath the lowest edge of a roof structure in a manner to provide rigidity and integrity for the gutter trough and provide a leaf guard that can be oriented to provide a convenient access to the gutter trough for maintenance and service thereof as needed.
It would also be desirable to provide a one-piece gutter and leaf guard apparatus that is sufficiently rigid in the assembled structure to be self supporting in a cantilevered manner from a fastener attaching the apparatus by a mounting flange to a soffit facing board.